Chapter CXIV. to amend the Postal Laws
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CHAP. CXIV.— An Act to amend the Postal Laws.June 12, 1866. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That, from and after the firstPrepaid and free letters to be forwarded upon request, &c. day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, prepaid and free letters shall60THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 114. 1866. be forwarded, at the request of the party addressed, from one post office to another without additional postage charge; and returned dead lettersDead letters. shall be restored to the writers thereof free of postage.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That the tenth section of the act entitled “An act to establish salaries for postmasters, and for other purposes,”Letters to be returned to writers without charge.1863, ch. 71, § 28.Vol. xii. p. 706.1864, ch. 197, § 10.Vol. xiii. p. 337. approved July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-four; and so much of the twenty-eighth section of the act entitled “An act to amend the laws relating to the Post Office Department,” approved March three, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, as requires postage to be charged at the prepaid rate, to be collected on the return delivery of letters, indorsed with a request for their return to the writers, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and all letters bearing such indorsement shall hereafter be returned to the writers thereof without additional postage charge.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the third section of the act entitled “An act to establish a postal money-order system,” approved MayMoney orders for not over $50.1864, ch. 87, § 3.Vol. xiii. p. 76. seventeen, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to authorize the issuing of a money-order for any sum not to exceed fifty dollars, and that the charge or fee for an order for a sumCharges. not exceeding twenty dollars shall be ten cents; for an order exceeding twenty dollars shall be twenty-five cents.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That a money-order shall be validMoney order good for one year. and payable when presented to the deputy postmaster on whom it is drawn within one year after its date, but for no longer period; and in case of the loss of a money-order a duplicate thereof shall be issued withoutDuplicate in case of loss. charge, on the application of the remitter or payee, who shall make the required proofs; and postmasters at all money-order offices are hereby authorized and required to administer to the applicant or applicantsOath. in such cases the required oath or affirmation free of charge.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That all railroad companies carryingRailroads carrying the mails to convey printed matter, &c., without extra charge. the mails of the United States shall convey without extra charge, by any train which they may run over their roads, all such printed matter as the Postmaster-General shall, from time to time, direct to be transported thereon with the persons in charge of the mails designated by the Post Office Department for that purpose. Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That if any person or persons shallWilful, &c., injury to mail matter deposited in letter box, &c., or aiding to injure, how punished. wilfully and maliciously injure, deface, or destroy any mailable matter deposited in any letter-box, pillar-box, or other receiving boxes established by authority of the Postmaster-General of the United States for the safe deposit of matter for the mails or for delivery, or shall wilfully aid and assist in injuring such mailable matter so deposited as aforesaid, every such offender being thereof duly convicted shall, for every such offence, be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not more than three years, at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That whenever it shall become expedient,Postmaster-General may modify contract for postage stamps, if, &c. in the opinion of the Postmaster-General, to substitute a different kind of postage stamps for those now in use, he shall be, and is hereby, authorized to modify the existing contract for the manufacture of postage stamps so as to allow to the contractors a sum sufficient to cover the increased expenses, if any, of manufacturing the stamps so substituted.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That section two of the act entitledReadjustment of salaries of postmasters.1864, ch. 197, § 2.Vol. xiii. p. 336. “An act to establish salaries for postmasters, and for other purposes,” approved July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be amended by adding the following: *Provided,* That when the quarterly returns of any postmaster of the third, fourth or fifth class show that the salary allowed is ten per centum less than it would be on the basis of commissions under the act of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, fixing compensation, then the Postmaster-General shall review and readjust under the provisions of said section.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That whenever the Postmaster-Gener-61THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 115. 1866.al shall require special agents of the Post Office Department to collectSpecial collecting or disbursing agents to give bond. or disburse the public moneys accruing from postages, such special agent or agents, when so employed, shall, prior to entering upon such duty, give bond in such sum, in such form, and with such security, as the Postmaster-General may approve.
Approved, June 12, 1866.